How Much Does It Cost to Bring Your Family From Nigeria to the UK on a Visa?

Once you're settled in the UK, bringing your family over is often the next big step — and often the most expensive one, in ways that catch a lot of Nigerian families off guard. This guide breaks down the real cost of bringing a spouse and children to the UK, whether you're sponsoring them as dependants on your Skilled Worker visa or bringing a spouse on the dedicated family route.

A note on these figures: Home Office fees are revised regularly — most recently on 8 April 2026 — and can change again. The figures in this article are correct as of publication, but fees, IHS rates, and priority service costs should always be double-checked on gov.uk's visa fees page before you budget or apply, since even a small increase can matter when you're planning for a whole family.

Two different routes, two different cost structures

There are two common scenarios, and they have meaningfully different costs:

Dependants joining you on your Skilled Worker visa — your spouse and children apply as dependants, each paying their own application fee and IHS at the same rates as your own visa.
A spouse joining you as a British citizen or settled person, on the dedicated family/spouse route — this has its own fee structure, generally higher than the dependant route, and its own financial requirement.

Cost of bringing dependants on a Skilled Worker visa

Each dependant pays the same application fee as the main applicant for the same visa length (£819 for up to 3 years, from outside the UK), plus their own IHS at £1,035 per year of visa length. For a spouse and two children joining you on a 3-year visa, that's roughly (£819 + £3,105) × 3 people = around £11,772 on top of your own visa costs — a substantial sum that needs planning well in advance.

Cost of the dedicated spouse visa route

If you're a British citizen or settled person sponsoring a spouse to join you (rather than them coming as a dependant on your work visa), the spouse visa application fee is £2,064 if applying from outside the UK, and IHS is charged on top at the standard £1,035 per year for the length of the visa granted (typically 2 years and 9 months for the initial grant). This route also requires you to meet a specific financial requirement — broadly, evidence that the sponsoring partner earns above a minimum income threshold, or has sufficient savings, to support the family without recourse to public funds.

Children: a cost that's easy to underestimate

Each child pays their own application fee and IHS, exactly as an adult dependant does — there's no discount simply for being a minor (though under-18 dependants of students do qualify for the reduced student IHS rate on the Student route specifically). Families with two or three children can find the "per-child" cost adds up faster than they expected, since it's easy to mentally budget for "the visa" as a single family cost rather than multiplying it out per person.

The financial requirement, explained properly

For the spouse route specifically, the sponsoring partner generally needs to show they meet a minimum income threshold (or hold sufficient savings as an alternative), calculated based on the specific family composition being sponsored. This isn't a fee — it's a standard of proof — but gathering the right evidence (payslips, employment letters, bank statements covering a specific period, and in some cases a specified level of cash savings held for a minimum period before applying) is often the most time-consuming and stressful part of the whole application, more so than the fees themselves. Getting this evidence wrong or incomplete is one of the most common reasons family visa applications are refused, so treat it as seriously as the financial cost itself.

Staged versus simultaneous applications

Some families choose to bring everyone over at once; others bring a spouse first and children later, or vice versa, often for practical reasons like school term timing in Nigeria or wanting to secure housing and settle in before children join. There's no fee advantage to either approach — each person's application and payment stands alone regardless of timing — but staging your family's move can spread the financial burden across a longer period, which is worth considering if the full combined total feels overwhelming to fund all at once.

Don't forget the practical extras

Beyond the headline fees, budget for: biometric enrolment at a visa application centre in Nigeria for each family member, document translation costs if any documents aren't in English, courier or document return services, and flights for the whole family. None of these are Home Office fees, but they're real costs that add up alongside the visa fees themselves.

Housing and settling-in costs once you arrive

Once your family's visas are approved, the costs don't stop — UK rental deposits (often a month's rent, sometimes more) and the first month's rent upfront can require several thousand pounds before you've even moved in, and this is on top of, not instead of, the visa costs already discussed. School enrolment for children, while generally free at state schools, can involve uniform and equipment costs that catch families by surprise if they arrive mid-term. Budgeting for the visa is essential, but it's genuinely only the first of several major expenses in a family relocation, and treating it as the "big cost" while underestimating settling-in expenses is a common and stressful mistake.

A realistic savings target before you apply

Given the combination of visa fees, IHS, and settling-in costs, many immigration advisers suggest families aim to have several months of living expenses set aside in addition to the visa costs themselves, rather than arriving with just enough to cover the application and little else. This buffer matters enormously in the first months, when you're establishing a UK bank account, building a credit history from scratch, and potentially waiting for a first UK salary payment. Families who arrive with this cushion report a noticeably less stressful transition than those who arrive having spent everything on the visa process alone.

Check your specific numbers

Because family size, visa route, and visa length all change the total significantly, it's worth calculating your specific situation rather than estimating. Our Dependants Visa Cost & Eligibility Calculator is built exactly for this, and our Visa Application Cost Calculator can help with the main applicant's own costs too.

Frequently asked questions

Can I bring my parents to the UK the same way as my spouse and children?
No — bringing elderly or dependent parents is a separate, much more restrictive route with its own strict eligibility criteria, not an extension of the standard dependant process.

Does the financial requirement apply to dependants joining a Skilled Worker visa holder?
The financial requirement in its specific form is most associated with the spouse/family route; dependants on a Skilled Worker visa have different maintenance requirements, so check the specific rules for your route.

Is there a way to reduce the cost of bringing multiple children?
There's no bulk discount on Home Office fees, though careful timing (applying together rather than in stages, where appropriate) can sometimes reduce overall administrative costs and hassle.

What happens if we can't afford the full cost upfront for the whole family?
Visa applications generally need to be paid in full at the time of application — if cost is a barrier, it's worth planning your family's move in stages with proper advice on sequencing, rather than submitting an application you can't fully fund.

Does the financial requirement change if we have savings in Nigeria rather than the UK?
Savings can generally be counted regardless of which country they're held in, provided they meet the specific evidential requirements (held for the required period, properly documented, and easily convertible), but always check the current rules carefully.

Can grandparents or other relatives help fund the financial requirement?
Generally, the financial requirement needs to be met by the sponsoring partner (and in some cases the applicant) themselves, rather than through third-party support, though the specific rules on this are detailed and worth checking carefully for your situation.

Do we need to reapply and pay again if our first family visa application is refused?
Yes, generally a fresh application with its own fees is needed after a refusal — this is exactly why getting the evidence right the first time, ideally with professional guidance if your situation is complex, is worth the investment.

This is general information, not immigration or financial advice. Fees, exemptions, and eligibility depend on your exact visa route and circumstances. Before making any decision, check the official rules and current fees on gov.uk, or speak to a regulated adviser — never anyone unregulated, however confident they sound. Use our OISC Adviser & Solicitor Directory to find someone legally allowed to advise you.